Research and Education Collaborations between CAPS and Clark Atlanta University

Few opportunities exist for students from minority serving institutions to conduct research at major atmospheric science centers. Furthermore, ethnic minorities are not well represented in the fields of atmospheric science and meteorology. To address this problem, investigators from Clark Atlanta Univerity and CAPS have designed a summer research program for CAU students. The CAPS-CAU summer research program is a part of the larger NSF funded, "Collaboratives to Integrate Research and Education in Earth Systems Science (CIRE)." During the summer of 1999 six CAU undergraduate students conducted interdisciplinary research in the areas of severe storms climatology, geographic information systems, satellite meteorology, and natural hazards geography. They were also exposed to current research being conducted at the Oklahoma Weather Center, mentored by Center scientists, and became familiar with several tools used by professionals in the geosciences. It is our hope that this program will act as a model for improving diversity in the atmospheric sciences into the 21st century.